I challenge you... Christmas style.

I've been wanting to post a new blog for a while now but there are some days where sitting down and typing something out seems virtually impossible.... That was my entire week. Work was brutal this week as we had the owner's out for a big inventory that only happens once a year. I happened to get hired on about 2 months before this "big week." Meaning I've been spending most of my time in preparation for it. It's funny how things work out though, the less I stressed about it the more I realized it was a blessing in disguise! As a Visual, I am more inclined to remember something once I've seen it. I had the opportunity to physically touch every single accessory we have in our showroom. At first it sounded like an impossible task, but quickly became my saving grace since without it I would still be lost among thousands of unrecognizable pieces. With that said, it was a crazy week. 

In the meanwhile, Christmas decor had to go up! In retail Christmas decorations are up as soon as Halloween is over, so I was SUPER excited to bust open the huge boxes of decorations in my office that had been calling my name for the past two months! 

As I opened them I busted up laughing and thought to myself, "Oh ok, this is going to be a challenge."

We'll start with the wreaths... and I'm not talking about the little ones you hang on your door... I'm talking 60 inch wreaths that a grown man could use as a hula hoop! Which may have been beautiful masterpieces 4 years ago, but were now tattered and sad hot glued disasters. The hot glue being the challenging part... 

Needless to say, I was excited to tackle them and see what I could come up with. I knew it was going to be interesting because I had limited resources and was only able to use what was already there. I felt like I was on a design show and this was one of the challenges... (Except in the end I'd win nothing and have to go find a place to hang them. lol)

After peeling away hot glue and broken glass I started over, making bows out of crinkled pieces of hot gluey (yes, gluey) ribbon and creating make shift christmas ball hangers out of paperclips. Oh boy. When all was said and done I was sort of proud of my little wreathy creations. They weren't at all what I would've chosen to create from scratch, but sometimes you gotta make it work. Old wreaths need love too! :)

Below are a few of this week's "Challenges." Enjoy! 

    Before:

   After:

Before:

   After:

Before: (For this one I had to use a box of random purple decorations.)

After:

Before: (A Centerpiece... I think?!)

After:

And so, I challenge you. Find a torn and tattered Christmas decoration that needs a little lovin.. and love on it! It's amazing what you can do with some scissors and a little determination! :) 

And I'll leave you with this:

Our 12 foot Christmas tree (And a box of tree decorations that didn't match. haha!) 

Found the ones that worked together and tada!!

r.